


"It"

by UnknownPaws



Category: Resident Evil - All Media Types, Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Adi is protective, F/M, Lickers are Lickers, Mace doesn't know how to parent, More AU crap, because why the hell not, i have no explanation for this, wth is this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-08-10 22:45:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7864177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnknownPaws/pseuds/UnknownPaws
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's on the bed again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	"It"

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TiBun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiBun/gifts).



It's on the bed again, Mace notes with a disturbed air.

Staring at them, silent and oddly calm. Well, would be staring, should the creature have possessed eyes. But none there were; instead there was a brain, large and pushed out from the skull, in the place where eyes should be.  And every so often, it pulsated like an unpleasant slug, like a physical emphasis of the creature's attempts to _think_ and _calculate_. The sight alone was enough to churn Mace's gut and roll bile into his mouth.

It was thankfully small, though this was to be expected; it was only four hours old. It's skin, dark and stretched in many a place, rippled with small muscles that should not exist on a being so _small_ and _young_ (though Mace had to remind himself that such a being was anything but innocent and fragile... like a baby).

(Like a baby).

It's face was the image of nightmares; no nose and a mouth too large, and teeth sharp and deadly and too large to sit behind lost lips. Even as Mace watched, it exhaled and dared to show a long, whip-like tongue. Flicking it almost playfully, like a child would a toy or a baby to a rattle.

(Like a child, like a baby).

Its hands, paws with giant claws, gripped the blanket, the little beast leaning forward as if in nervous restraint. The tendrils poking out under the folds of the brain, Tholothian reminiscent, wavered anxiously, and Mace had to stop from grabbing his lightsaber from under the pillow as _it_ gave a small shrill squeal and that unholy mouth curled downwards.

(A baby's cry for attention).

Mace repressed a shudder, both for the benefit of his Jedi pride and to prevent triggering the tiny beast before him.  Staring, studying, waiting.  Curious as to the two beings lying nestled together in the small bed, studying them with quiet intrigued that reminded him too much of Adi's own silent analyzing.

As if the Force read his mind, there was a soft noise and a shift beside him, and Mace could see Adi stir from the corner of his eye. Resting against his chest, she was exhausted and out of breath still from the day's earlier events. But her eyes were brighter than when she'd woken him hours before, when chaos erupted. That moment showed eyes glazed over with pain and weariness, pain that lasted far too long from a mix of flaring up old injuries and the curse of new life. Pain that faded to dull exhaustion as she fell back against his hold, passing out slowly as the last of her energy was sapped and he'd be _damned_ if he wasn't even an ounce afraid in that small moment that she'd been killed from her tireless efforts.

 But now blue aligned with brown, and at last she realized that threat that had slowly begun sneaking its way across the bed. She was silent, the uncanny shared trait being too noticeable between the creature and Jedi. (Like a mother and child, one taking after the other). For a moment, Mace wondered whether she would draw her lightsaber, or force push the little demon away.

She did neither. Her hand, shaking with weakness, lifted. The creature paused, its ugly head tilted. She leveled her gaze to its brain, staring with a strange unblinking intensity that Mace had never seen. A weird yet familiar bond, created only between two beings of blood, of protectiveness-

 _"Of love"_  he realized in astonishment.

It was then he realized that his attention had been caught adrift a second too long, and the creature had at last made its move. He jerked as it crawled up upon his bare chest, arm twisting to grab his lightsaber - only to be stopped by Adi. She eyed him, a fire in those blue orbs. A swirling mess of protectiveness and pleading, wisdom and understanding but also reassurance and small comfort. And against his better judgement, against the darkness swirling inside that whispered _do it do it DO IT_ , he relented and eased back against the pillows.

The thing nestled against his bicep almost chirped, croaking at him and grinning with those teeth. He hesitated, resisting temptation, the creature's unsightly presence reminding him too much of _bloodshed, death and destruction_.

(But all it did was knead his stiff skin, claws too tiny to do damage, flop down and snuggle over his heart).

He watched it quietly, semi-aware of Adi's eyes studying _him_ , and when it seemed it was no longer a _threat_ (cautious he would remain), he relaxed at long last. Adi smiled; he felt her rest back against his chest, her face dangerously close to the little monster. Her hand traveled to find one of the Beast's longer claws, the creature curling its small paw around her fingers.

(Like a baby would to a mother's finger).

Her face lifted to give him one more smile before sleep took her away, pulling her back into its embrace as Mace was left helplessly alone with the creature on his chest. His heart pondered, but the thing only dozed alongside Adi, following her example.

After a moment, he braves touching a claw.

What he expects is not having his finger grasped tightly and held like a stuffed  teddy. As if for security, reassurance, and comfort. It is in that moment that he realizes that the creature it - _she_ \- is sentient. That she is not a beast or weapon in mind like she is in body, that she does not even realize what she is or that she is anything but a newborn baby. Unaware of the changes to her body that set her apart. Ignorant of the ugliness that blinds her. Oblivious to the disdain placed upon her because of how she appears, only seeking what all infants seek; love, affection and comfort.

Sorrow hits; she is the physical embodiment, he notes, of a child lost. A youngling whose fate was torn apart before birth, doomed unwanted. To be scorned and pushed aside, to only know disdain, rejection and loneliness. She is a product of him and Adi, but not once of their choosing. A being between them, but also an experiment of science and technology, military influence that have been corrupting the Jedi since the start of the Clone Wars. She is the embodiment of it all, of their doom and destruction.

A monster, his mind muses.

A baby, his heart counters.

He draws the blankets up over her and Adi, watching her snuggle cheek to cheek with the other Master (no attachments, his Jedi side muses bitterly). Her finger still grasps his as he settles down for the night, the baby sleeping protected by her guardians.

(He realizes, in his last moment of consciousness, that he has named her already. Her name is "Ani", and he cannot fathom as to _why_ ).


End file.
